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Monday, January 21, 2013

The torture of the inaugural fist bumping day, celebration of collecticism, redistribution and war is almost over: “We will renew those institutions that extend our capacity to ‘manage crisis’ abroad, for no one has the greater stake than its most powerful nation…..We will support ‘democracy’ — from Asia to Africa, from the Americas to the Middle East, because ‘our interests‘ and our conscience compel us to act ...”

Barack Obama used his second-term inaugural address to issue a powerful call to action, as he embraced an unashamedly liberal agenda and urged Americans to reclaim from conservatives the spirit of the founding fathers.

Speaking in front of Congress after renewing his presidential oath of office before a crowd of about half a million, the 44th US president pledged that he would battle against poverty and prejudice, deliver equality for gay people, tackle climate change and give young undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship.

Conscious that so many second terms end in failure and disappointment, he held out the prospect of bucking history. "America's possibilities are limitless … My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it so long as we seize it together," Obama said.

His speech was steeped in the language of the US constitution and in rhetorical references to Martin Luther King, underlining the symbolism of the inauguration taking place on the national holiday that celebrates the civil rights leader.

As a result it was more inspirational than the largely disappointing address in 2009. Then, faced with unrealistic hopes for his presidency and with the country caught up in he worst economic crisis since the 1930s, he had to dampen expectations.

This time round, he took the opposite approach, making a case for collectivism, the need for the federal government to help individuals out of poverty, offering opportunities for all rather than just a shrinking privileged few.

Attempting to debunk the rightwing interpretation of the constitution that has held sway in the US, Obama, in what became a near constant refrain throughout his speech, said the founding fathers did not intend the country to become enslaved by the constitution and that patriotism was not the preserve of the right.

"That is our generation's task – to make these words, these rights, these values – of life, and liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – real for every American. Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life; it does not mean we will all define liberty in exactly the same way, or follow the same precise path to happiness.," Obama said.

It was down to the current generation to make the principles a reality, he declared. "For history tells us that while these truths may be self-evident, they have never been self-executing."

One of the most striking passages was in support of gay rights. Obama, early in his first term, was heavily criticised by gay organisations for failing to do enough. He partly redeemed himself through support for gays in the military and for equal marriage rights, but he went further on Tuesday, placing the battle for gay rights, summed up by the Stonewall protests in New York, alongside other key civil right fights.

"We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal – is the star that guides us still; just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall," Obama said.

"Just as it guided all those men and women, sung and unsung, who left footprints along this great Mall, to hear a preacher say that we cannot walk alone; to hear a King proclaim that our individual freedom is inextricably bound to the freedom of every soul on earth."

"Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law," he said.

And he explicitly embraced gay marriage rights. ""If we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well," he said.

Obama made similar pleas for equal pay for women, for legislation to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and against other vestiges of prejudice.

92 comments:

I was tortured for almost 3 years by the FBI and their friends onlybecause 85 years old man, Roland Sibens(chicago) convinced them that Iam a terrorist. I was tortured for working on my prosthetic legs inthe basement. I done absolutely nothing illegal or wrong. They thoughtthat in theory it is possible to hide bomb in them. They saw anopportunity to get famous, so they were trying to torture me till Isign their insane story. They tortured me using more than 100different torturing methods and trust to me waterboarding is not howthey torture nowadays. I dont know where to find justice.

I think that after 9/11 things got out of control. Freedom fightersbecame tyrants. In 1945, most Germans had an opportunity to learn about Nazis deathcamps. I hope that one day American citizens will get chance to learn about peoplelike me, who were tortured with no reason for years.

4. Despite token Wall Street/finance reforms, nothing has stopped or even slowed Wall Street in its race to a new bubble. Obama has repeatedly surrounded himself with idolaters of Wall Street.

5. Obama has asserted the right to use drones anywhere, and has excused, ignored, or concealed American killings of civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, and elsewhere.

6. Obama has claimed the right to assassinate American citizens.

7. He has failed to close Guantanamo. Despite claims of ending torture, his administration tortured Bradley Manning and there are numerous reports of torture continuing at Bagram airbase. His “ending” of torture seems more like a redefinition.

8. Obama showed every indication of personally opposing the CFPB (as he personally opposed Elizabeth Warren), but he found himself confronted with a majority in the US population that expected him to stand by at least _some_ of his rhetoric.

9. His administration continued the Bush rush to bailout Wall Street, but four years later, the vast majority of those directly mauled by the banks in the foreclosure crisis have seen _no_ assistance of any kind.

10. Whatever his personal thinking about Israeli occupation and right-wing Israeli war criminals, Obama has continued to fund Israeli atrocities in the West Bank and Gaza.

11. On climate change, Obama has been as bad in action as any Republican. It seems clear that, like the oligarchs he serves, Obama feels safe in the conviction that, no matter what happens, the US government will be able to extract from the average American whatever is needed to keep the 0.1 percent safe from any and all negative outcomes of their crimes.

*10000 Seniors turn 65 every day in this country and will continue to do so for the next 20 years.One survey that covered all American workers found that 46 percent of them have less than $10,000 saved for retirement.

*According to a survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, “60 percent of American workers said the total value of their savings and investments is less than $25,000".

*Overall, the Social Security system is facing a 134 trillion dollar shortfall over the next 75 years.

*Medicare is facing unfunded liabilities of more than 38 trillion dollars over the next 75 years. That comes to approximately $328,404 for each and every household in the United States.

*According to one recent survey, 70 percent of all American workers expect to continue working once they are “retired". (where will they work?)

*In 1945, there were 42 workers for every retiree receiving Social Security benefits. Today, that number has fallen to 2.5 workers, and if you eliminate all government workers, that leaves only 1.6 private sector workers for every retiree receiving Social Security benefits.

*According to one recent survey, 70 percent of all American workers expect to continue working once they are “retired".

*According to one recent poll, 25 percent of all Americans in the 46 to 64-year-old age bracket have no retirement savings at all.

There are dying towns all around the country in which grass roots alt-retirement communities/co-ops could develop. Age does not mean infirmity and there are plenty of productive seniors looking for ways to contribute. Many people have no interest in joining the traditional country club communities like Sun City or the Villages.

There are ways to adapt to changing demographics, economics and climate. People with vim, vigor and the right attitude will find these ways.

LORAIN, Ohio — It used to be called illegitimacy. Now it is the new normal. After steadily rising for five decades, the share of children born to unmarried women has crossed a threshold: more than half of births to American women under 30 occur outside marriage.

Think about the implications. Most of those woman and children will need some form of government assistance. It is a structural cradle to grave scenario.

Throw in the crappy US public education system, substance abuse, obesity, illegal immigration and needs of the eldery and you have a real plan for a successful society.

…Others noted that if they married, their official household income would rise, which could cost them government benefits like food stamps and child care. W. Bradford Wilcox, a sociologist at the University of Virginia, said other government policies, like no-fault divorce, signaled that “marriage is not as fundamental to society” as it once was.

Reviewing the academic literature, Susan L. Brown of Bowling Green State University recently found that children born to married couples, on average, “experience better education, social, cognitive and behavioral outcomes.”

Lisa Mercado, an unmarried mother in Lorain, would not be surprised by that. Between nursing classes and an all-night job at a gas station, she rarely sees her 6-year-old daughter, who is left with a rotating cast of relatives. The girl’s father has other children and rarely lends a hand.

Gates of Vienna (counter-jihad blog) declared in violation of Blogger's (Google) Terms of Service original FReeper content based on attempt to visit The Gates of Vienna blog ^ | January 21, 2013 | The_Reader_David

Posted on Monday, January 21, 2013 6:06:52 PM by The_Reader_David

The mostly European-oriented counter-jihad blog, The Gates of Vienna, has been declared in violation of the terms of service of Google's blog-hosting arm, Blogger.

I would urge all FReepers to protest this action to Google and boycott Google's products to the maximum extent feasible until it is reversed. The Gates of Vienna was a valuable resource for those opposing the Islamization of Western Civilization, and the violation of the terms of service is almost certainly based on accepting the Islamic notion of "slander of religion" under which telling the truth about Islam, if doing so impedes the spread of Islam or harms the interests of Muslims is "slander".

“It’s rather sad. It’s not the first time that it’s happened,” said Julian Starr, a botany professor at the University of Ottawa who specializes in plant identification and classification. “It’s almost Canadian in the fact that we can’t even get our symbols right.”

When I attempted to open the photo of the banknote in my image-editing software to resize it, an error message appeared telling me that the software “does not support” editing images of banknotes.

It turns out that a number of currencies use something called the “EURion constellation,” a series of dots named for a portmanteau of the Euro’s technical name (EUR) and the Orion constellation, which the dots resemble.

Photo-editing software and even photocopiers are designed to recognize the dots, which appear on medium and large denominations of many national currencies, and to lock out any images that include them. It’s a rather brilliant way to forestall currency counterfeiting, even if it is a bit annoying for bloggers."

...except your the same old Rat you were when you first appeared @ BC, defending some "reporter" (JIHADI Accomplice) who just happened (by pre-arrangement) to be on the scene to get the story, w/pics of when innocents were slaughtered.

Uhmm, “caring for the generation that built this country?" So, doing some rough math, if Obama’s talking about people aged between 55 and 75, who were in prime working years from 1962 to 2003, that’s when the country was built? Who knew?

President Obama represents the majority of americans. In the environmet that Republicans have created in Washington, talking about what the majority of Americans support is considered bold. Comical to read someone like Isaa calling for "compromise". Republicans in Congress have spent the last 4 years making it clear that compromise won't work. Now Americans are taking back control of the Federal government and will demand that their wishes be carried out.

Sarkozy's plans 'to dodge new 75% French tax rate by moving to London with wife Carla and setting up £1bn private equity fund'

Fraud police found details of move and business plan in raid on home Sarkozy is under investigation for corruption in France He will be latest Frenchman to escape potential top French tax rate of 75% Couple would become London's most high profile Gallic celebrities Sarkozy would hope for fund support from French entrepreneur Alain Minc Carla to be used as shark bait

We have talked here about how the proliferation of nuclear weapons only really went into high gear after the US and USSR decreased their arsenals, and how, despite that, the answer to nuclear proliferation is often given as further decreases in superpower arsenals.

Well, isn’t it also true that when the superpowers strode the earth like vengeful giants that terrorism was comparatively rare and focused on specific issues, such as Israel?

When you have nuclear armed B-52’s flying to their X-points every single day with orders to continue on to hit the USSR unless you are told not to do so – well, no doubt that gives even dwarves with axes some pause.

A least if you are prepared to blow up the world that says you are a powerful civilization that don’t take nuthin’ offa nobody.

And no doubt note was taken of the fact that the negotiation approach to terrorism has provided a nice payback for the terrorists. Fatah and Hamas were just isolated crazies until the sacred Mideast Peace Process gave them their own country.

The West is sterilizing the soil by delegitimizing its founding principles in Christian heritage, western civilization, and American Exceptionalism. In its place a new crop is growing. New generations will begin questioning the orthodoxy of Leftist propaganda as all youth will eventually question the authority that has sought to implant in them the seeds of their own vanity and it is just as likely that the strong horse of Islam will replace it.

Just like taxing behavior more or less guides expansion or contraction, protecting Islam from the first amendment is likely to promote it in the vacuum of ideas. It is in the nature of youth to rebel and in far left outliers we are seeing an accumulation of disaffected youth willing to join under the black flag of Al Qaeda. This is probably going to snowball and no amount of midnight basketball is likely to slow its accent. Free Palestine movements are already on the rise on college campuses and trump the right of free expression of traditional groups.

The war on drugs is good for law enforcement the world over because it offers a foil against public self-interest to be free and prosperous and the same can be said for the “war on terror”. It is a war in name only and another reason to tap your phones, surveil your bank accounts, and to track you with armed drones. And the beauty is, all under the cover of the classified jacket where the right to defend yourself in front of a jury of your peers is infringed.

There will always be radicals who hate the American tradition. Too bad they are now firmly entrenched in government.

Obama exposed and not only inaugurated, but confirmed by an expectant majority. There is no American exceptionalism to this formula. The giveaway continues until a standoff over how much one class is willing to tolerate the taking from the another. The hideous Lincoln set the “No way out clause.”

Quirk my find the show interesting, DRR too, but she don't hang here no more. It seems it is on Frontline tonight. Below just the tail end of the review in my local rag:

"The Untouchables: PBS show finds Wall Street can get away with murder

...

What emerges is a picture of dubious practices unchecked. And then what emerges is a number of politicians and officials seething with rage that fraud charges have not been brought against key players.

A lot of people are mad at the U.S. Department of Justice for failing to press charges. Former senator Ted Kaufman (a Democrat who was appointed to fill Joe Biden’s Senate seat when Biden was sworn in as Vice-President in January, 2009) was, as the program says, “determined to see bankers in handcuffs.” But try as he might, nothing happened.

Kaufman left Washington in 2010. His chief of staff, Jeff Connaughton, remains perplexed that prosecuting Wall Street was never a priority for the Obama administration: “You’re telling me that not one banker, not one executive on Wall Street, not one player in this entire financial crisis committed provable fraud?” he asks incredulously. “I mean, I just don’t believe that.”

Eventually, there is a sort-of explanation from Lanny Breuer, assistant attorney-general for the Department of Justice’s criminal division. Wringing his hands and obviously a bit nervous, he says, “I think there was a level of greed, a level of excessive risk taking in this situation that I find abominable and very upsetting. But that is not what makes a criminal case.”

And yet, as Frontline finds, there is considerable evidence of fraud. “Very upsetting” is what you’ll find this excellent exposé. Talk about getting away with it. You and I couldn’t get away with it."

Example 1. A member of the Michigan Supreme Court decides she is going to game the system so she attempts to minimize her assets so as to swing a short sale on one of the homes she owns. Hathaway and her husband, Michael Kingsley, deeded a Florida home to Kingsley's daughter while trying to negotiate a short sale on a house they couldn't afford in Grosse Pointe Park.

In a short sale, a bank agrees to a sale that wipes out any remaining mortgage, a significant benefit for any borrower. The 2011 deal went through and erased the couple's $600,000 debt in Michigan. Five months later, in 2012, the debt-free Windermere, Fla., home worth more than $600,000 went back in their names for $10.

The Feds jumped on her and charged her with "Bank Fraud", maximum sentence 30 years in the pokey, It looks like she struck a deal and likely will plead guilty. If so she will probably face soem time in prison but no where near 30 years. She will also likely be sued by the bank to recover the money they lost. You don't mess with a 'banks'.

Now compare that to Corzine (a guy with friends in high places).

Example 2.

A House Financial Committee on Oversight found "The responsibility for failing to maintain the systems and controls necessary to protect customer funds rests with Corzine," the report says. "This failure represents a dereliction of his duty as MF Global's chairman and CEO."

Others within MF Global say that Corzine personally ordered the transfer of $200 million of customer funds to cover an MF Global obligation. The intermixing of firm and customer funds is a criminal act.

What happened to Corzine as a result of the bankryptcy of MF Global and the billions lost through his risky and in some cases criminal deals? Zip. He left MF Global in November and is now talking about opening another hedge fund.

An unlicensed therapist who was a prominent member of a very conservative Muslim community in Brooklyn was sentenced on Tuesday to 103 years in prison for repeatedly sexually abusing a young woman, beginning the attacks when she was 12.

Omar Hussein, 54, a member of the Akbar Islamic community of Williamsburg, did not react as the judge sentenced him. The victim, now 18, who delivered an impassioned statement asking for the maximum sentence to be imposed, dabbed away tears.

“The message should go out to all victims of sexual abuse that your cries will be heard and justice will be done,” said State Supreme Court Justice John G. Ingram before imposing the sentence, close to the longest permissible to him by law. He praised the young victim’s “courage and bravery in coming forward.”

As Mr. Hussein was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, he turned to his wife and gave her a nod and a small smile.

On Dec. 9, Mr. Hussein was found guilty of 59 counts of sexual abuse, charges that carried a maximum combined sentence of 117 years. He was found guilty of engaging in various sexual acts, including oral sex, fondling and acting out pornographic videos, during therapy sessions that were meant to help the girl become more religious. The abuse lasted three years.

In her statement, the victim, dressed in a gold shirt and black skirt, said that for years during and after the abuse, she would look in the mirror and see “a girl who didn’t want to live in her own skin.”

“I would cry until the tears went dry,” she said. But now, she said, she can see someone “who finally stood up and spoke out,” on behalf of both herself and “the other silent victims.”

“You played around with people as if they were your toys,” she told Mr. Hussein, “without the slightest bit of mercy.”

Mr. Hussein, who wore his traditional black suit and head covering, did not speak before the sentencing, but his lawyer, George Farkas, said he was “innocent of the crimes charged.” An appeal is planned.

The case was closely watched as the first high-profile child-sexual-abuse case brought by the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, against a member of the politically powerful Akbar Islamic community in his more than two decades in office. This sentence is the longest a Brooklyn court has imposed on a member of the ultra-conservative community for child sexual abuse.

Critics have charged Mr. Hynes with not being aggressive enough in going after molesters in the politically well-connected community, but Mr. Hynes has blamed the lack of prosecutions on the intimidation to stay silent that ultra-islamic sex-abuse victims and their families often face from their own community leaders.

Support for Mr. Hussein was strong in powerful circles of the Akbar community after his arrest in 2011, with hundreds turning out for a fund-raiser for his defense. But the courtroom on Tuesday was about equally divided between supporters for Mr. Hussein and his victim.

Mr. Hynes has said that he believes the case may mark a turning point for ultra-conservative sex-abuse victims. In addition to convicting Mr. Hussein, his office also charged seven Islamic men with bribery and intimidation of Mr. Hussein’s victim, who testified over four days. Prosecutors say they know of more victims who were too afraid to testify.

“If there is one message to take away from this case, it is that this office will pursue the evil of sexual abuse of a child no matter where it occurs in this county,” Mr. Hynes said in a statement. “The abuse of a child cannot be swept under the rug or dealt with by insular groups believing only they know what is best for their community.”

The victim, who has since married and enrolled in college, no longer lives in Williamsburg but continues to face harassment and intimidation by some who still support Mr. Hussein, according to the woman’s husband.

“She definitely feels relieved, and she will be able to sleep better at night,” the husband said on Tuesday. “He definitely won’t be able to hurt anyone else.”

Similar groups are cropping up nationwide. The National At-Home Dad Network, an organization of groups in 69 cities, has 2,600 members and runs an annual convention.

Members of Triangle Dads, a 150-member at-home fathers' group in North Carolina, have been known to escape to the shooting range together where, says co-founder James Kline of Apex, N.C., they sometimes discuss the merits of different diaper brands while blasting away at clay targets with their shotguns.

A favorite pastime among Triangle Dads is swapping apps and websites to help overhaul domestic routines, says Ian Worthington of Raleigh, N.C.

France and Germany marked half a century of post-war partnership with celebrations and grand displays of unity in Berlin today despite serious differences over a common vision for the future of Europe and its single currency.

...

Commentators have remarked, however, that the Franco-German motor – once the driving force behind the European project – is hardly revving. Mr Hollande and Ms Merkel still have to resolve the euro crisis.

The law should neither prohibit nor mandate that physicians ask about guns. Both would violate doctors’ rights to free speech.

...

A local colleague, Dr. Matthew Bowdish, has declared, “I will not undermine the Second or Fourth Amendment rights of any of my patients who are lawful gun owners. Nor will I record my patients’ gun ownership status in any medical records that could be accessed by government officials unless relevant to a specific medical issue.”

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Magnificent Ronald and the Founding Fathers of al Qaeda

“These gentlemen are the moral equivalents of America’s founding fathers.” — Ronald Reagan while introducing the Mujahideen leaders to media on the White house lawns (1985). During Reagan’s 8 years in power, the CIA secretly sent billions of dollars of military aid to the mujahedeen in Afghanistan in a US-supported jihad against the Soviet Union. We repeated the insanity with ISIS against Syria.